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Iowa's $75 Million School Safety Fund Largely Unspent Despite Recent Shootings

Bureaucratic delays hinder disbursement of funds aimed at improving school security, leaving most schools, including recent shooting sites, without financial support.

Students arrive at Perry Middle School, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Perry, Iowa. Middle school students returned to classes Thursday for the first time since a high school student opened fire in a shared cafeteria, killing two people and injuring six others. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Overview

  • In June 2022, Iowa announced it would spend $75 million in federal pandemic relief funds to improve school building security, awarding up to $50,000 each to 1,500 schools.
  • More than 19 months and two deadly Iowa school shootings later, the vast majority of the money is still unspent due to bureaucratic delays by local and state officials.
  • Most schools statewide have yet to receive funding, including those in Perry, where a recent school shooting left two dead and several injured.
  • The state has awarded $20.6 million for upgrades at hundreds of school buildings across Iowa, but payments for completed work have been far less to date.
  • The money is coming from Iowa's share of the American Rescue Plan Act, signed by President Joe Biden nearly three years ago, which was designed to help states recover from the coronavirus pandemic.